How many of you have children with feeding problems?

There are so many challenges facing parents of kids with Autism, that it’s truly amazing how much they accomplish, especially when you gain a better understanding of challenges themselves.

Some challenges are more difficult than others but few are as taxing as feeding issues.

Many kids with Autism have sensory processing challenges as well. Sensory related food proclivities are among the most difficult challenges I face as an Autism Parent. Between the enormous financial burden, worry and shear frustration, it’s absolutely exhausting.

I worry because my kids will literally go hungry if I don’t accommodate their needs. These kids will starve before eating something that’s sensory offensive.

This is such a misunderstood condition and unless you’re dealing with it everyday, it’s very difficult to fully understand. This can create tension between the parent and those around them that feel the parent is coddling their child too much.

Making multiple meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner is exhausting, not to mention expensive. It’s also not unusual to have to go through this a few times for each meal and for each kid.

As part of raising awareness for Autism families, I thought it would be good to share our personal experience with this particular challenge.

Here’s a great example from my personal life, that actually happened today.

My youngest, Emmett, is very sensory oriented and getting him to eat anything is not easy. The latest thing that’s proving to be challenging with my very limited grocery budget this month is seen in the picture below..

Emmett will eat these little cups of Mac N Cheese but only with butter and salt. The kicker here is that he won’t eat this with the cheese. These little bowls of macaroni and cheese are not cheap and to only eat them one way (without the cheese), seems like a huge waste of money.

At least he eats but I could just buy plain noodles and save a ton of cash….

I’d love to hear your experience in this challenging area… What foods will your child tolerate or not tolerate well? Do you find yourself frustrated?